Synopsis

The Mysterons target the oil refinery which provides all the fuel for Spectrum's vehicles in an attempt the immobilise the whole organisation.

Plot

In the desert, the Mysterons sabotage an oil drill at Rig 15 by opening a safety valve, releasing a jet of oil which quickly ignites and turns the rig into an inferno. The nearby refinery, Bensheba, is the one source of fuel for the Spectrum organisation's vehicles. In view of a Mysteron threat to immobilise the whole of Spectrum, Colonel White fears that the aliens will attack this fuel supply and dispatches Captains Scarlet and Blue to Rig 15.

On arrival, Scarlet and Blue learn from the rig controller, Kinley, and his assistant, Hansen, that an explosives expert, Jason Smith, has been called in to "blow out" the fire using a carefully-placed charge. However, while Smith positions the device, Captain Black, observing from a distance, uses the Mysteron influence to kill the specialist, who is then reconstructed. The device detonates and the fire is extinguished according to plan.

That night, Black instructs Smith's duplicate to leave in his truck and use his explosives to destroy the Bensheba refinery. The body of the original Smith is discovered the following morning and Scarlet realises that the expert has been taken over by the Mysterons. He requisitions an SPV and pursues Smith as he speeds down a highway leading to Bensheba. Cutting through the desert to catch up with his target, he manages to force Smith off the highway before he reaches the refinery. Smith crashes into a sand dune and his truck explodes, but the SPV collides with a set of oil tanks, fatally injuring Scarlet. The captain's body is brought back to Cloudbase for his recovery.